Google Classroom
GeoGebraGeoGebra Classroom

Stack of woods

The harmonic series

The series is named harmonic series. It is divergent.

About the meaning of the divergence of the harmonic series

You can stack woods or books on top of each other so that they create a certain overhang.
Foto: privat
Foto: privat

What is the maximum overhang?

Task Illustrate the problem in the applet provided. Increse the number of woods.
Hint For the calculation of the barycenter, see also the teaching material Der Schwerpunkt (in German).

Derivation of the center of gravity coordinates (in German)

Derivation of the center of gravity coordinates (in German)

Total overhang

For the total overhang for the nth wood, this results in the sum of all individual overhangs . Since the harmonic sum diverges, this means that you can create an overhang of any size with an appropriate number of woods.